Geek Review: Skyscraper

A one-legged man, formerly law enforcement, needs to rescue his family from a tall building during a hostage crisis. If the guy had two legs, that sure would sound familiar.

Yeah, it sounds a lot like the Christmas classic Die Hard!

This is Skyscraper.

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson stars as Will Sawyer. He lost a leg during an FBI hostage situation, but as luck would have it, the combat surgeon that saved his life was Neve Campbell, and they fell in love. Ten years later, Will and his wife have a pair of twins. Will is working as a security consultant with a job on the Pearl, a Hong Kong skyscraper twice the size of its nearest competitor, advertised as a vertical, indoor city.

And then terrorist/criminal types take over the building, setting the upper floors on fire, right where Will’s family is, and they’re looking for…something.

Johnson is a charming enough screen presence, but the movie basically goes through the motions. It was fine, but unremarkable. There wasn’t any real suspense, but there was one little thing the movie did that made Sawyer a more unique protagonist for this genre, and I don’t mean the prosthetic leg. See the movie for yourself if you want to see what it is. 7.5 out of 10 indoor parks.